Purple Mountain

As Jiang Zhu traveled, he witnessed countless clashes between bandits and raiders. Merely passing by could drag him into their battles, and so blood and fire accompanied him throughout his journey of tens of thousands of miles.

One day, while walking alone across the wasteland, Jiang Zhu sensed towering dragon qi beneath his feet. An enormous dragon vein lay dormant there.

Jiang Zhu carefully sensed the course of the dragon vein. Before long, he discovered several majestic mountain ridges, each formed by an enormous dragon vein winding and coiling through the earth. The mountains resembled sleeping dragons, their heads converging on a great mountain at the center.

At the center stood a single, solitary mountain several thousand meters tall. Its entire mass was purplish-brown, its rocks as hard as divine metal, with no vegetation covering them. Its steep slopes resembled a heavenly sword thrust upside down into the earth.

"So this is the natural configuration of Nine Dragons Arching the Pearl? Truly magnificent and wondrous!"

The nine dragon veins were either exposed like spines of red iron or hidden amid clouds and mist. Dark red material seeped from fissures in the ground, resembling dragon blood soaking into the earth.

The terrain secretly accorded with the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Spiritual energy gathered into a vortex and poured downward, forming a natural configuration of supreme profundity.

As far back as the primordial era, this terrain had been revered as sacred ground for its ability to gather the energy of divine source. It later became the Undying Heavenly Emperor's cultivation ground. Afterward, Great Emperor Wushi took possession of Purple Mountain and suppressed the primordial races with an Emperor Weapon.

Before Great Emperor Wushi took possession of it, Purple Mountain had been an utterly lethal forbidden land. The Undying Heavenly Empress, the Heavenly Emperor's Son, and their subordinate generals were sealed within divine source.

Great Emperor Wushi reshaped the terrain, turning the energy of the nine dragon veins into a suppressive formation. A phantom of the Wushi Bell stood atop the mountain, its tolling purging evil. Only then did entering this place become possible.

Even so, the interior of Purple Mountain remained perilous beyond measure. Even Saints could become trapped within it. Only those holding the Emperor Jade could obtain some of its blessings.

After all, Great Emperor Wushi had left the Emperor Jade for a future bearer of the innate sacred body dao embryo. It allowed its holder to claim all the blessings of Purple Mountain and also served as a token of entry and exit.

Someone without the Emperor Jade, such as God King Jiang Taixu, a descendant of Emperor Hengyu, had been trapped in Purple Mountain for four thousand years. With his oil spent and his lamp burning out, he wished only to pass down Nine Secrets: Dou, one of the Nine Secrets.

Jiang Zhu considered it briefly. The Azure Cloud Sect near Purple Mountain possessed a piece of Emperor Jade.

The five hundred miles surrounding Purple Mountain all fell within the Azure Cloud Sect's territory. Though it was called a sect and bore an upright, peaceful name, its members were no different from bandits.

Such was the land of the Northern Region: the law of the jungle, the weak becoming meat for the strong, and the powerful squeezing the powerless dry.

The Azure Cloud Sect was a minor sect at the very bottom of the food chain. Ordinarily, it could only squeeze mortals dry. Its members dared not exploit cultivators too harshly, but mortals were not so fortunate.

Killing was a trivial matter to them. They slaughtered villages and exterminated families at the slightest provocation, violating other men's wives and daughters.

To them, did mortals even count as human? They were nothing more than a swarm of ants.

Jiang Zhu had no need to hesitate. He chose the Azure Cloud Sect. He could obtain the Emperor Jade and dispose of these scourges along the way. Why not?

Green mountains towered over the Azure Cloud Sect's grounds, wreathed in thin mist. Waterfalls cascaded down every peak, and clear green waters flowed around the mountains, lush and beautiful.

Springs burbled, and flowers bloomed like brocade, lending this beautiful place another measure of vitality and a touch of lively grace.

Elsewhere, such scenery might have been unremarkable, but it was rare in the barren lands of the Northern Region. An oasis like this resembled a secluded paradise beyond the mortal world.

The Northern Region's night sky was clear, without a cloud for ten thousand miles. Scattered starlight shone down, while anguished wails occasionally broke the stillness of the night. The disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect were enjoying their pleasures.

Jiang Zhu stood in the sky. Lewd laughter, wails, and screams drifted up from below. His expression grew ever colder, and he opened his mouth, threw back his head, and let out a long roar.

"Roooar..."

An earth-shaking dragon roar erupted from his mouth. Every other sound between heaven and earth vanished without a trace, leaving only that single roar echoing through the air. Winds rose and clouds surged, while the immense dragon power around Purple Mountain gushed forth. Beneath that dragon roar, everyone was struck motionless with dread.

The dragon roar shook their souls, and dragon power suppressed their bodies. Every member of the Azure Cloud Sect stood frozen in place, unable to move.

Jiang Zhu stopped roaring, descended from the sky, and entered the Azure Cloud Sect.

It was as though time had stopped within the Azure Cloud Sect. After examining them, Jiang Zhu pointed a finger. Vast dragon power pressed down, forcing every member of the sect flat against the ground.

As the dragon roar faded, their minds were no longer blank. But their bodies remained bound and suppressed by dragon power. Their own strength was nowhere near enough to break free of the power Jiang Zhu had drawn from the nine dragon veins.

Jiang Zhu examined their souls one by one while stripping them of everything they owned. To his surprise, this tiny sect possessed more than a thousand jin of source.

The Northern Region truly lived up to its reputation as a land that produced source.

Before long, he found a piece of ancient jade in a heavily bearded man's Sea of Bitterness. A fragmentary map of mountains and earth veins was carved upon it, depicting Purple Mountain and the nine dragon veins. It also bore a recognizable character for "Emperor."

It was none other than the Wushi Emperor Jade!

Having found his target, Jiang Zhu swept his hand. The suppressed members of the Azure Cloud Sect promptly tumbled into a fissure in an earth vein like dumplings dropped into a pot. Boundless dragon power spread out and suspended them in midair.

These people had committed countless evils. Killing them outright would have let them off far too lightly. Jiang Zhu suppressed them here, leaving their souls active but their bodies unable to move, like insects sealed in amber. Their souls would experience eternal loneliness, while bone-corroding icy winds constantly blew through the earth vein. Their bodies would feel as though they were being cut by a thousand blades, until death finally ended it.

Jiang Zhu had acquired these cruel punishments from their own minds. What he had taken from them, he now put to use on them.

After dealing with these people, Jiang Zhu released the mortals they had abducted, then entered Purple Mountain.

With the Emperor Jade in hand, Purple Mountain was like a treasury with its doors thrown open to him.

The generals left behind by the Undying Heavenly Emperor were suppressed by the Wushi Bell. So long as he did not court death, he could stroll through Purple Mountain unimpeded.

Jiang Zhu sensed the dragon veins, found one that led into Purple Mountain, and entered smoothly through it.

He continued along the dragon vein. Deep underground, it was dark and secluded, like a road leading to hell. Along the way, the vein constantly contracted and expanded, as though breathing, drawing rumbling sounds from the earth.

With a thought from Jiang Zhu, a snow-white glazed lamp floated out of his Sea of Bitterness. Golden lamplight instantly illuminated his surroundings.

The rock walls on either side resembled the bodies of sleeping ancient gods, constantly emitting a terrifying aura that pierced through flesh and sank deep into the marrow.

After walking for an unknown length of time, he emerged from the narrow ancient dragon passage into an immense underground space where the terrain opened out.

By the light of the Great Sage Lamp, Jiang Zhu could make out the underground space, which resembled a subterranean palace. Emerald moss covered the open ground, while a flock of batlike creatures roosted in fissures in the cliffs above. These Demon Bats had wingspans of ten zhang. Saliva continually dripped from the corners of their mouths, corroding the ground with a sizzling hiss.

Hearing the disturbance, the Demon Bats attacked Jiang Zhu in swarms.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The Demon Bats clustered together and beat their wings, sweeping toward him like a black storm. Their violent air currents gouged layer upon layer of furrows into the cliffs.

As they flew, strange pulses issued from their mouths, making his eardrums buzz.

Jiang Zhu extended his right hand, which instantly transformed into a dragon claw. Cold light gleamed at its tips, and formless dragon power gathered upon it, as though it could tear divine metal apart.

The dragon claw pressed down, and the dragon vein's energy surged forth like a flood. Dao laws entwined the outstretched claw. The attacking Demon Bats struck it and were instantly annihilated into a mist of blood!